Diamond Geezer! Supplier Showcase: Mobeus

March 17th, 2012 | Julia Braime

.

Welcome to Saturday Brides Up North! Ahh Saturday morning, my very very favourite time of the week. A nice little lie in if you are lucky and the weekend stretching happily ahead. You and your man are both off work, the sun is up and the shops are open…

.

What better time for a bit of ring hunting?

.

I’m thinking the same, as today as we chat to Brides Up North Featured Supplier Mark of Mobeus. Is an eternity band for your second anniversary too extravagant I wonder…?

.

.

.

.

Hi Mark! Tell us a bit about Mobeus?

.

I started as an apprentice goldsmith in 1987 straight from 6th form college after doing A level CDT and Art. For the next five years I worked as an apprentice receiving one to one training before moving back to my home town to set up my own workshop inside an existing jewellers. After seven years doing that and running a workshop which coped with over twenty shops worth of repairs I decided to change direction.

.

Mobeus was set up twelve years ago in a very small retail unit purely as a workshop open to the public with a small section of cabinets to display jewellery for sale. After five years I bought large retail premises further up the road and designed the interior of the shop so that the workshop was facing the retail shop so customers could see us working and we could talk to them without leaving the bench.

.

.

How is Mobeus different from the competition?

.

One of the main differences is that Mobeus is a jewellers owned and run by a goldsmith with twenty five years of knowledge and experience. My customers love the fact that they are talking to the people actually doing the work and it doesn’t get sent away anywhere.

.

.

What products does Mobeus offer?

.

Because I am a goldsmith I source the jewellery that we have for sale with a goldsmith’s eye, always checking the quality of any product we sell personally for build quality and design to ensure I am stocking excellent products that are going to last. We do have a small section of products we have designed and manufactured ourselves but most of our time is spent on commission work, which can be anything from a wedding ring and engagement ring set to an automated sterling silver water lily which is on display in Bowes museum! We have videos on our website showing how we make some of the commissions like the lily.

.

.

What materials does Mobeus use in its wedding rings?

.

Mobeus works in all precious metals, platinum, palladium, gold and silver. We do not work in stainless steel or titanium.

.

.

Tell us about Mobeus’ shaped wedding rings and the process by which they are made?

.

We have a video showing how we make shaped wedding rings – basically we talk through the design required by the customer and then hand-make the shaped wedding ring in silver so that the customer can actually try the shaped ring on their finger before they buy.

.

.

.

.

We do this within three hours so we do not have to keep the engagement ring, and we do not charge for this service. After years of making jewellery I have found this to be a fool proof way of working which guarantees that the customer will be happy before we have the silver sample ring cast in any precious metal.

.

.

Tell us about Mobeus’ gents’ wedding rings?

.

We have also built up a sample box of ideas for gents’ wedding rings because we found the choice for gents generally was poor and when asked most men wanted something a little bit different rather than just plain.

.

.

Tell us about your jewellery restoration service?

.

We have restored all types of jewellery over the years sometimes due to sentimentality we restore and sometimes we will re-make something from scratch copying from what is left of the old jewellery or even working from pictures if the jewellery has been lost.

.

.

What other services do you offer?

.

Our most commonly used everyday service is white gold rhodium plating, we can do this the same day for customers if necessary, most jewellers take at least a week to have this job done.

.

.

Where are you located? Do Brides Up North need an appointment?

.

Our premises are in Hartlepool. A Google map is provided on our website to help customers find us easily and we have free parking for half an hour both down the side of the shop and over the road. An appointment is not essential but is recommended so that we can guarantee customers quality time.

.

.

Can you give Brides Up North an idea on price?

.

Although we are bespoke we are not expensive because we do everything in house which cuts out any middlemen eating up percentages.

.

.

Are you running any special offers at the moment?

.

We have a special offer on our website at the moment running until March 31st 2012, 10% off £1000 spent or 20% off £2000 spent.

join the northern revolution

Would you like to see your real wedding, love story, styled shoot, forthcoming event or wedding business featured on Brides Up North? Contact Brides Up North for real wedding and features submissions or details of our advertising packages.

have your say

about the author

Julia Braime
Former lawyer and bride to be Julia founded Brides Up North in 2010 with a chip on her shoulder. Frustrated by the poor Northern presence in glossy bridal magazines and online, she decided to do something about it herself.
Astounded by the rapid growth of her blog and brand, Julia now manages Brides Up North’s online content alongside their busy wedding exhibition season, industry events and related commissions. And she’s always, always, got a new project on the go…